Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-10-01
rnr EALL OF PROGREss


1t Is pretty generally acknowledged now
that il Wheeling is ever to grow much be-
yond her present size she must have those
great arteries of cOmmerce-railroads. As
we'll might one expect a man to live with
ont blOod-vrsSals or without eating as a
city without the proper means OF inter
course with the outside world. What
means has Wheeling at the present time
A traveller taking a trip through the eoun-
try would never know that there WAS such
a city as Wheeling on the map were it not
put down Oh the time tables of the b. 30.
aud the Pennsylvania, which a traveller on
those roads is supposed to glance over.
Coming or going he passes By Wheeling,
On the b. q .. BenwoOd is the point near
est Wheeling that the traveller touches; on
the Pennsylvania, Steubenyille. Even If
he be aiming to get to Wheeling he must
get of at either of these points on the
through lines and be switched down or mp.
Naturally enough, he thinks Wheeling Is
q very insignificant place, when the rail-
roads pass her by, and when he gets here
maryels mt her size. Tie indS her a city
of over thirty thousand inhabitants when
he expected a mere village. 1t probably
puzzles him 10 understand how Wheeling
ever attained to her present proportions.
The river has been Wheeling's great
stronghold in the past. But she has
worked it for absolutely all it is worth,
while the river roads have made stesm-
boating Improbable, though not greatly
increasing Wheeling's shipping facilities
over the days when there were no river
roads. In fact it Is said that Wheeling wa
IN the heydey Of her prime when the river
was alive with steamboats, halt the year.
But who now will say that Wheeling has
reached her prime, that there is not q great
future before the Nail City?
Had Wheeling the great shipping facil-
tiles that Pittsburg has, had she the tray-
elers constantly coming and going, had she
the numerous small lines centering at her
Union depot, Wheeling would not be so
far below Pittsburg in point Of size and
wealth. OF course ~Pittsburg's coal had
much to do with her growth aside from the
tact that she is ut the confluence of two
great rivers. But Wheeling is now on the
same footing as Pittsburg rs regards fuel,
she is above her in natural wealth and the
only point in PittSburg's favor is her net
work of railroads that makes her 4 reservoir
for the wealth Of the surrounding country.
As the REGISTER has often before point
ed out, Wheeling has only 10 put ont her
hand to be almost on the anne footing
with Pittsburg-to be q railroad centre.
A trunk line is asking to get through and
a half dozen other railroads are waiting for
a terminal point in her big Union depot.
A road to the coke fields and roads into
the State must follow as natural conse-
quences the building Of the Union bridge
aud the passage into and through the city
ofthe Ohio roads and connections.
Wheeling is thoroughly aliveto the truth
of all this. She is throwing out her Crap
ping hooks for a few threads Of the rail-
road cobweb that exists between Pittsburg
and Chicago. She has met with aattering
success. There has been practically no
opposition TO the scheme. Money from